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Friday, 19 October 2012

New Product Announcement

A new product on the market promises to help improve the
quality of smart-phone photographs. A
small light-box that you can put on top of your showcase allows an adjustable
“vise” for assorted sizes of smart-phones, a 3-D adjustable clamp for various
types of jewellery, a neutral background and jewellery-balanced diffused LED
lighting. This way your customers can
take sharp photos of a piece of jewellery they’re considering!

Am I kidding?
Abso-stinkin-lutely! Nowadays, instead
of saying “can you write the details down on a card for me…” consumers are
saying, “can I take a picture of it so that I can think about it?” It’s the new way of avoiding decision-making
and potentially shopping your merchandise to your competitor. My personal conclusion is that unless you’ve
actually asked for the sale and done everything in your professional sales
repertoire to close the sale, you should discourage photos. If it’s a case of sharing the information
with others who are paying for or “chipping-in” on a purchase, of course an Instagram or photo-message can help
expedite the sale.

C2A – next staff meeting, discuss the following.

·Under what circumstances would you allow someone
to bring-out their camera-phone?

·How do you politely prohibit a photograph
without offending a client.

·Who might be insulted by a sign at the entrance
that discourages unauthorized photography?

·Are you okay with telling a client to take a
photo of a competitor’s design and bring it to you?